OC Transpo says its new Presto smart card scheme has been delayed until the local agency responsible for supplying it works out glitches with the system, according to The Ottawa Citizen.

The system was scheduled to go live July 1. However, according to transit commission chair Diane Deans, due to technical problems with the system the transit decided to push the launch back.

The system’s been in testing for more than a month with some testers – about 1,000 people, mostly friends and relatives of OC Transpo staff – having to double-tap their cards to get their fares recorded. One issue has been some testers not being sure whether their accounts have been charged twice.

Once the system finally launches, riders are supposed to be able to replace their paper passes and tickets, in exchange for cards they can simply tap on readers at bus doors to pay fares.